Citizen Diplomacy -- Revised

The trouble with keeping a blog is that occasionally the pressure to produce a post will lead you to dash off something quickly without fully reflecting on it, and then people who are far smarter than you (and when I say "you," I mean "me"--or, in the interest of grammatical correctness, "I") will read it and point out its shortcomings. Which is exactly what happened to me this morning.

I'd contacted a PD scholar for advice on narrowing the focus of my thesis, and in the course of our conversation he revealed that he'd read my latest blog post and noted that my definition of "citizen diplomacy" was fairly broad, pointing out, "Civil society interaction is not the same as public diplomacy."

Well, this is absolutely true, and the implications are twofold. First, it means that, despite my fervent beliefs to the contrary, I am not 100% right all of the time. This is terribly disappointing. Second, it means that I need to continue refining my definition of "citizen diplomacy." No doubt, I'll have plenty of time to do so in Mexico where I'll have a front row seat to observe lots of international and cross-cultural interactions that may or may not qualify as diplomatic interactions.

And this brings me to another point. My computer access will be limited while I'm abroad, and my manIC productivity is going to be seriously curtailed. But don't despair! You needn't be cut off from the wit and charm you've grown accustomed to seeing on this site! While abroad, I'll be posting semi-regular updates here so you can stay abreast of every thought--from the brilliant insight to the lusterless observation--that my colleagues and I deem fit to share. And as we are all required to participate (is anybody else amused by the concept of mandatory blogging?) I'm sure there will be plenty of fabulous material.

Hasta luego!